Changing Paths
by OrangeSkye2772
Summary: In which Jak wasn't so angry and he knew about his 'Dark' side and actually embraced it- and things didn't go as they did in the game. WARNING: AU-ness. Brotherly Love. Violence. Torture. Thank you and this is Changing Paths...
1. Chapter 1

Takes place about a month before Dax rescues him. SUMMARY: A WHOLE DIFFERENT UNIVERSE! I'm talking about- plot twist, unseen foes, more interactions! This is going to scope over EVERAHTHANG! How could one thing drastically change another? AKA- what happens if Jak can physically see his Dark form, befriended it, AND he isn't the emotionally awkward angry guy we saw in Jak 2, 3? But more calm and collected, dare I say- a brother figure?

"Get up, 12!" A loud booming voice awaked Jak from his nightmare filled sleep. Something growled from the back of his mind, and Jak had to pause from standing up to send out a message to the growling voice.

'I'm okay.'

Now standing fully up, Jak turned to the steel door to see who was calling him. There was a screeching noise, one that grated Jak's overly sensitive ears. The slit in the door opened, and a tray of grey glob was pushed inside of his cell.

"Here's your food!" The booming voice called out, and the loud retreating steps indicated the person outside of his door had left.

Jak stretched out, a grimace marring his tanned face as his joints popped, and muscles spammed from the movement. He took a tentative step forward, realizing the cuts from yesterday were starting to scab over.

Reaching the door was a hard task, as his body was screaming for him to stop. His world became woozy, and Jak had to press a hand against the wall to keep from falling over.

A body materialized in front of him, its hands reaching out to steady him. Jak flashed a quick smile up to the teen supporting him. Slowly, the pair walked over to the door, before sitting down non-too gracefully as they reached it. Jak raised the mush to his mouth, his eyes looking over to the teen sitting opposite of him.

The teen had light purple- grey skin and dark grey lips, which were currently pulled into an upside down smile. Large, elf ears were partly hidden by a wild white main which framed the teens face, two bits of hair fell into the center of his forehead, giving the teen an innocent -with a tad of wild-look. Said look was ruined by two dark purple horns that started a bit pass his hair line, running about seven inches before curling slightly up. The teens eyes were pitch black, sans the under tone of violet. Pearl white canines poked out from the teen's mouth, adding to the dark look the horns were giving off, but clashing with the porcelain complexion of his face.

A whine escaped the teen's mouth, echoing off of the walls. Jak smiled.

"I told you to speak with your voice; you'll need it in the future." Jak's own voice was deep and intimidating, but was also slightly raspy- a testimony to his injures. The grey mush was half done by now, Jak being a multi-tasker and all. The teen looked at him as if saying 'I don't want to.' A stern stare from Jak and the teen sighed in defeat.

"**I don't like them**" The voice came out dark, and disembodied. Jak finished the grey mush and put it down.

"I don't either, but we can't worry about them, we need to focus on survival." The teen let out a feral growl.

"**But they hurt you!**" Jak unconsciously rubbed his shoulders, with were bruised from the KG. Pain shot down his arms, and planted itself in the middle of his stomach. The teen reached out and cradled Jak's face in his hands. 2 1/2 inch claws that were razor sharp carefully settled themselves on his hair.

"**Are you alright?**" Jak tried to reassure his friend, but his words came out in a strangled whimper. Pain continued to rack up and down his body, and Jak could feel the edges of his vision starting to blur.

"**Jak."** He heard from his fading conscious. A hand found its way to his shoulder and Jak let out a low moan in pain. The hand was snatched back, but lightly gripped his wrist. Jak forced his legs to move into a standing position. Two hands rested firmly on his ribs, steadying him as his knees buckled.

"Bed… Please." His voice was low in pain. Jak tried to see where he was in his small room, but his vision swam again. Before he knew it, cloth was under him, and he felt himself lay down on his dingy bed.

The teens face found his way into his sight, and words seemed o jumble together. The teen sensed his confusion and tried again, at a slower pace.

"**Lie down, and rest.**" The words were said with barely concealed panic, and a spark of dark eco stretched through the air.

"Please… Stay, Dark." Jak rasped out, his vision flickering slightly. Dark nodded and kneeled by Jak, his head bowed.

Jak coughed violently, his back arching off of the bed. Dark's eyes widened when Jak's hands flew towards his chest, scratching at his shirt. Short, pained gasped came from Jak as his lungs refused to give him oxygen.

Dark bolted up and grabbed Jak's hand with one of his owns, sure- Jak might have been injured and tired, but it was proving to be difficult to restrain him from furthering hurting himself. Dark's free hand gripped Jak's chest, and dark eco became to wrap itself around Jak's lungs. The eco jump started the cells, and healed the strained and bruised organ.

Jak's breaths became steadier, and his hand fell from the bone crushing grip he had on Dark. Jak looked up at Dark, his eyes holding relief and gratefulness. Soon, Jak was out, his head lolling slightly off to the side.

Dark breathed deeply. The days were getting harder, along with the treatments. They started mixing pure dark eco, along with muted, and the result weren't pretty. Jak's body wasn't used to the eco change, and started to repeal against it.

When Jak was near death, about 22 months ago, when the scientist realized he wouldn't change without a push and upped the treatments by six, Dark had materialized to help save him- consequently triggering the Dark form. That saved the scientist some trouble what with Jak's heart failing and all. At first, Jak was hysterical; thinking Dark was a hallucination. At the time, Dark could only growl- so that didn't help Jak's case.

It took some time, but finally, Jak realized he wasn't a threat, and started talking to Dark. Dark himself was a fragment of Jak, with a mindset from Sandover. Sure, he didn't like the scientist or KG- hated Errol and Baron Praxis, but other than that his mind was still of an early teenager's.

Jak mumbled in his sleep, turning to face Dark. A pained look flashed across his face, and Dark reached out to pat his hair. Jak relaxed slightly, but was still tense. Dark frowned in worry, wondering what nightmare could be causing all this trouble.

JAK'S DREAM (NIGHTMARE)

_Jak was running, from what- he didn't know. He looked around, frantic to get out of the darkness he was in. _

_Laughter resounded through the space, and suddenly everything was bathed in red. Jak turned to look over his shoulder. _

_Giant, red eyes looked down on him. Jak let out a yelp as the shadows wrapped them around him. More laughter ensued as he was dragged down into the dark._

_Jay struggled against his restrains, screaming as the darkness seeped into his body. The laughter reached into his head, hammering against his eye lids. _

_Jak's body went lax, and the tentacles wrapped around him stopped pulling him deeper. They instead chose to let go of him, letting him sink deeper on his own accord. _

_Jak thrashed violently, but they heavy weight of the dark glum restricted his action. Suddenly, there was a hand reaching out, grasping his arm. Jak blindly looked around, searching for the holder. _

_Jak could feel himself being tugged upwards, the dark glum moving slowly out of his way. _

_His hand broke the surface, followed closely by his head. Jak took in deep breaths, and hauled his body up onto the ledge that separated the ooze from solid ground. _

_Jak looks up, trying to see his rescuer. The body is blurred, but he can clearly see the face. _

_Jak screams, Baron Praxis is towering above him, snidely smirking down at him._

"_You're too valuable to lose." _

_The words echo around him, just like the laughter. The Baron smirks even more, if that was even possible, and pulled Jak up to his feet. Jak winces at the iron grip the Baron has on his arm, already sensing the bruises that are going to form._

_The scenery changed and Jak found himself in front of a metal chair. The Baron shoved Jak forward, laughing when he fell to the ground. _

"_How about we roughen you up before the treatment?" Jak felt a shiver press through his spine along with a pang of pain. _

_Errol emerged from the shadows, carrying a bat with electrical barbs on it. Jak scrambled to get away, but an invisible force kept him from moving. _

_Jak looked up at Errol, fear and terror etched in his eyes._

_Pain_

_Pain and agony was all he felt for what seemed like an eternity. The electrical barbed bat hit in certain places, ones that would hurt, but not kill him. _

_Finally, Errol stopped his assault just to look at him, taunting him._

"_Not so big and bad now, eh?" _

_Jak gritted his teeth, the movement causing a bone deep ache to start up. His vision had spots in it, and Jak embrace sleep with every fiber of his being. _

_A kick stopped his quest for sleep, followed by someone picking him up, and throwing him on the metal chair. _

_A loud humming noise- one that was all too familiar rattled his head. He vaguely heard a flat voice in the background._

"_Starting… 312…prepare for… Engage." _

_Needles punctured his skin, dark eco seeping into the wounds. _

_Jak let out an animalistic scream as the eco flowed through his bloodstream. Dark eco static crackled around him, lashing out to anyone near. His orange shirt quickly became a stained purple, and his hair was matted with the cursed eco. _

_His world was dimming, and Jak felt his life fading away. Frantic voices were above him, shouting, muttering, and yelling. Jak felt the eco drip into his mouth, choking him. _

_Pain course through him, and he saw a knife coming closer to his chest, and Jak thrashed, his eyes trained on the knife coming closer. In one last scream, he felt the tip of the knife sink into his flesh-_

Jak bolted up, grasping his chest. The dream played on and on in his head, replaying his last moments. Jak felt a tear slide down his cheek. Was he going to die today? Tomorrow? A choked sob racket threw his body, his hands gripping his head.

Why hasn't Daxter came and saved him yet? Was he even looking?

No, he told himself. Daxter IS going to come for him, he's sure of it.

The air shifted next to him as Dark materialized by his side.

"**You okay?**" Jak felt a smile tug his lips.

"You're always worried about me." Jak's voice was raspy and deep, cutting through the air.

Dark sat by Jak's side, his face buried in his abdomen.

Jak sighed, and rested a hand on Darks mane. Petting it, he started talking.

"Are YOU okay?" He meant to sound gentle, he really did- but that was kind of hard when there was tears leaking out of his eyes, and his voice was not in the best of conditions. Dark shook, and it took Jak some time to realize he was crying.

Jak rubbed reassuring circles in Darks back, frowning when he realized he (they) were way underweight; so much to where their bones we sticking out.

"You shouldn't be crying, we are going to get out of here…" His own voice wavered at the end. He didn't know if they were going to get out, he didn't know if they were going to see the light of day…He didn't know.

Jak bit back a bitter laugh. He was Darks' protector- someone who was suppose to be strong- and here he was; crying alongside him.

Dark clutched his shirt harder, and Jak fought back a wince.

"It's going to be alright… It's going to be alright…" Jak repeated the phrase over and over, trying not only to reassure Dark, but himself.

Sure, Dark is the 'epitome of evil', and Jak is the 'hero who saved the world', but if you take a step back and looked at the big picture, they both were just prisoners, both hoping to get out- just hoping to escape.

Tears slid down his cheeks and a hiccup broke threw his lips. Dark looked up, confused why Jak had started to cry too.

Jak shook his head and hugged Dark, sobs racking through his body. Dark rested his head on Jak's chest, softly saying what Jak had not minutes before. Jak's breathing slowly became steadier, a sure sign of sleep.

Dark's eyes lowered, his ears trained on Jak's heartbeat. They would get out of here; all they needed was to survive. With that thought in mind, Dark let sleep take over him.


	2. Escape

**FOUR WEEKS LATER** (a month)

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Jak screamed his voice hoarse from the hours of 'treatments' they were putting him through. They had upped the eco more, finally switching back to pure dark eco. That hadn't meant it would be easier for Jak, far from it actually.

The beatings came harsher, their frustration showing in the brutal way they treated him. Food became a blessing, only gave out every six or so days. Jak started running solely on Dark eco, so much that Dark and him began absorbing it for energy. (It was a hard task, collecting dark eco from objects, wearing him out easily- but it was all worth it.)

Purple blotches stained his shirt, seeping into his wounds and shorts. His arms were marked by Precursor language tattoos, the letters running down the backs of his arms before stretching up to his ears and chest.

Those, by far- was one of his worst punishments. The whole thing took 18 hours to do. 18 long, painful hours.

Scar littered his body, ranging from short and shallow, to jagged and deep. His hair was matted down from the eco and blood, so different from his other haircut. His eyes were no longer the brilliant blue, but brighter navy- darkened by pain and torment.

Dark didn't change much over the two years they were here, taking on the bruises, scrapes and tattoos, but never truly having a scar, sans the tattoos. Jak had grown a surprisingly well maintained goatee, starting from the middle of his chin and stretching downwards. Dark had also taken on a similar look, although his was slightly smaller. In fact, Dark was smaller than Jak in every way. His build was leaner than him, and his structure was generally smaller. Jak, however, has built to be tough, his shoulders broad and his stance deadly. His muscles were more promote than Darks, but not overly so. Although they looked slightly differnt- they both were highly agile and flexible

A woman's voice stopped his thoughts short, as he had given up screaming some time ago. He felt the needles pop out, and let out a weak yell.

"Dark eco injection cycle complete. Bio readings nominal and unchanged." His vision swam, the dark colors mixing together, before Jak shook his head slightly, his hearing came back in the middle of a conversation.

"…this one would be different!"

"…resistant to your… fear the Dark Warrior program has failed."

The Baron suddenly growled and grabbed the roots of his hair, screaming at him.

"AAARGH! You should at least be dead with all the Dark Eco I've been pumping into you!" Jak scowls at him, voicing his thoughts internally.

'That's what I'm hoping for!'

His vision dipped again, but Jak could hear them talking clearly.

"What now? Metal Head armies are pressing their attacks. Without a new weapon, my men cannot hold them off forever!" He heard Errol say.

"I will not be remembered as the man who lost _this_ city to those _vile creatures_! Move forward with the final plan! And finish off this…'Thing' tonight!" The Baron barked. Jak mulled over his words. Were they going to kill him? He heard Errol mutter a 'as you wish' before walking towards him, roughly grabbing his tattered shirt.

"I'll be back later…" Errol shoves him back onto the chair, making Jak break out into a fit of coughs.

Jak lays back, his breathing heavy. Dark appeared to his left, worry written on his face.

'**What are they going to do?**' He asks mentally.

Jak looks up, his eyes sliding closed.

'Kill us, tonight.' Jak breaths deeply. Dark suddenly growls, and crouches down as a pile of cloths land by Jak. The elevator used to transport guards lands on the floor in front of him.

"Ding, Ding… Third floor… Body chains, roach food, torture devises." A loud, high pitched voice breaks out through the silence. An orange blur lands on his chest, agitating the tender wounds there.

"Hey buddy… you seen any heroes around here?" A pair of eyes peer down at him, shock portrayed on them.

"WHOA! What'd they do to you?! Jak, it's me… Daxter!" Jak tried to sit up, to get a better look at the orange thing on his chest, not realizing it said its name. A pang of familiarly courses through him. He's seen this face before. Pain shot up his arm, and Jak slumped back down into the chair.

"That's a fine hello! I've been crawling around this place risking my tail, literally, to save you! I've been looking for you for two years! Say something! Just this once!"

Jak heard the words two years, and was reminded that yes, he has been here for two years, and it was all Baron Praxis fault… All Baron Praxis fault.

He bolted upwards, rage filling his eyes.

"I'm going to kill Praxis!" His voice was still raspy, but not as bad as before. The orange thing put its hands on his mouth, unknowingly chocking him.

Dark sprang forward, sensing Jak's problem.

"Shhhhhh! Right now, we gotta get you out of here." Dark's form started to take over Jak's, his eyes changing into deep violet.

"Just let me figure out how to open the security locks for your chair so I…" The orange thing was cut off by Dark scream of rage.

"AAAAAGGHHH!" The security locks shattered when Dark jumped up, his claws coming out with a 'slink'.

"Or aah… you could do it."

Dark staggers toward The furry thing on the floor, almost tripping on his own legs.

"Jak? Easy now. Easy buddy. It's your old pal Daxter- remember?" Dark Continued to clumsily walk towards the thing, his claws poised at a deadly angle. Jak thought hard from inside his body. Daxter… Dax… He remembered! Daxter from Sandover- the one that said he was going to rescue him! He called out to Dark.

'STOP! He's good!' Dark stopped his claws mere inches away from Daxter's face, and Jak took that time to regain control over his body.

"Daxter?" Jak stumbled back, his muscles protesting any more movement. The transformation receded, and Dark returned by his side, confusion written on his face. Daxter looked up at him disbelievingly.

"What the heck was that?! Sheesh, remind me not to piss you off! Come on tall, dark, and gruesome. We're outta here!"

Daxter jumps onto Jak's shoulder, not noticing the wince Jak gave at the contact. Dark growled for his side, and Jak mentally flashed a smile. No need to be angry- they were getting out of here!

Daxter gives him some clothes, beaten up blue shirt with beige kakis. Jak eyed the accessories with a smile. Goggles with two uneven scopes on them twinkled up at him, the leather that bound them together looking horribly used, with multiple scratches and cuts on them. Another leather piece was draped on the pile, a heavy eco ring bound in the middle.

Jak quickly dressed and looked over to Daxter.

"Where to?" Dax pointed to a stack of boxes leading up to an open vent.

Jak snorted. 'What idiots.'

'**Definitely.**' Dark agreed an unimpressed look on his face.

Daxter started talking aimlessly about if he could still jump, roll, etc. Jak nodded the whole way through, expertly avoiding guards and crawling through shafts. Dark floated next to him, disappearing and reappearing at random times.

Finally, after some minor problems, they reached a medium sized hole.

"Here's the exit!" Daxter beamed at him. Jak looked back at him, his eyes wide. Was this the end of his hell? Was he finally getting out? Jak hauled himself up, and noted Dark was right by him, his violet eyes impossibly large. Ushered tears glistened on Dark's eyes.

Jak smiled to himself- finally. FINALLY out of that prison! Relief flooded through him in waves as reached the top.

Jak sank to his knees, not caring if people stared. His head fell onto his chest, laughter bubbling up from within his very soul.

Two years, two freaking YEARS and they were out. Dark dropped down next to Jak, also breaking out into a slightly maniacal laugh.

Dax put his paws on Jak's face, inspecting it.

"You need a bath, pronto!" Jak shook his head; he needed to see where he was- revel in his freedom!

"Later, let's look around first." Dax rolled his eyes, muttering what vaguely sounded like 'there's not much to see in this dump.'

Jak ignored him, to wrapped up in looking at his surroundings. Dark had latched himself to his side, looking around like a six year old in a candy store.

The three had been wandering around for about 10 minutes before they stumbled upon an old man with a child hugging his knees.

"Excuse me." The old man said, reaching out with his hand. Jak turned to look at him, an eyebrow quirked. The old man gestured to the child.

"I am protecting this child- for his fate decides the worlds'. I fear that may be a challenge as this _place_ is dangerous." Jak gave him a look that clearly stated Do-I-look-like-I-care? The kid looked at him, shuffling closer. Dark growled lightly in confusion.

Jak knelt down, ignoring Daxter and the old man talking. The boy looked up at him, a curious twinkle in his eye. Jak was vaguely reminded of himself when he was a kid.

"My name's Jak? What's yours?" Jak gentle said when he reached eye level. The boy stared at him, and Jak had the feeling the boy couldn't talk. Jak smiled at the boy and gave him a stick he picked up.

"How about you write your name in the dirt?" The boy beamed up at him, and gratefully took the stick.

As the soon to be named boy started writing, Jak took the time to inspect the child. A leather hat was placed down on his head, and Jak had a sense of Déjà vu. A flurry of green hair slicked up from the hat, curving up in the middle of his fore head. A –admittedly- cute sideburn peaked out from both of the sides of his face. The boy had a face of immense concentration, and Jak was seriously considering helping out the poor kid.

The boy suddenly turned toward Jak, who instinctively flinched at the movement- but instantly thought he was foolish for flinching at a _kid. _The boy pointed towards the ground and Jak peered over the eager kid. There, scratched into the ground was a messy precursor letters:

**M **A _**r**_

Jak nodded.

"So your name is Mar?" At the boy's nod, Jak continued.

"Where are your parents?" The boy had a sad look on his face, and Jak was about to say 'forget about it' before Mar hunched over, and started to tear into the dirt.

A couple minutes passed, and Jak was surprised that the old man and Dax were still talking. Mar finally stopped and sat up- his eyes looking over the scribbles once more before turning toward Jak; gesturing to them.

Jak studied the drawing with growing interest. A circle with strange lines bunched together next to an oval with pricks at the top were put side by side, a small circle half blackened with a line through the middle was put by the pinprick one. Jak thought for a second, Mar had a hat- and a curl; that must be him. Jak assumed the others were his parents.

A bold line was rubbed into the ground where Jak guessed was a 'break'. In the next picture, there was the mop head one turned sideways on top of a bunch of scribbles. The pinprick one now was equipped with a darkened oval flipped to its side, pointing at a new circle. Jak had some trouble with this one, racking his brain for reasonable answers. He finally came up with this, Mar's Mom (mop head) had died, and his Dad (pinprick) tried to defend Mar.

His eyes roamed to the next one, which was pretty easy to figure out. The pinprick one was away from Mar's circle, which was being held by the previous circle in the last drawing. Finally, his eyes came on the last installment. Mar's circle was laying on the ground, which had lines on it. A tall circle stood next to him, its hairstyle being three scratches on the top, and both sides of its head. Jak vaguely registered that as the old man. It seemed as though the picture was conveying that the old man had come and rescued Mar off from the water slums, hence the lines on the ground.

Jak looked back at Mar, who was staring at him with some kind of anticipation. Dark poked him in his torso, mentally telling him to say something.

"I never met my parents; I lived with my uncle in Sandover." Jak blinked at his words. When did he become so talkative? The boy cocked his head, and Jak took a deep breath, ignoring the pain stabbing his ribs.

"That's my hometown. Where I came from before I came here." At that, Jak gestures around him. Dark leans forward in curiosity, his ears trained on Jak's tale.

"Me and Dax had some cool adventures- not to forget Keira and Old Samos." Another stab of pain, this one emotional. "We were always fighting lurkers, exploring the forbidden jungle. Lurkers are basically overgrown boars, yipping like dogs all the time. Since we lived on the beach, we occasionally went for a swim, not much; there were too many crabs and snakes. It was great, one might call it the good life, but we always wanted more. To see more, feel more, explore more. I guess that's what got us into this mess, right?"

Jak glanced down at Mar, who seemed hanging on every word. Dark also had a similar look, and Jak had to chuckle at them.

"Anyway, we once went to an island, somewhere where we weren't supposed to go, and Dax got turned into an osstell. That's where the adventure really started." Jak decided to skip all of the less than good points of his tale, and went to where they went forward in time.

"So, after saving the world and all that, we found a precursor artifact. Keira tweaked it a little bit, and it was soon running. When we got into it, we were pulled forward in time- and ended up here. Stayed in some places for some time, got out- and here I am now."

Mar looked up at him, a skeptical look in his eyes. Jak shrugged.

"Think what you want; it happened." Dark gave out a growl of displeasure, apparently he was also displeases with the tale.

Mar looked at the old man, tugging impatiently on his robes. The old man looked down, an irritated look on his face.

"What, boy?" Jak noted that the words had a, icy edge to them. Dark stalked forward, his violet eyes fixed on the two.

"**I don't like him.**" Dark said with a grumble.

Jak nodded. 'Me neither.'

Mar looked up at him, his head inclined to Dax. The old man glanced at the ottsel who was standing on a crate.

"What about it?" Dark growled, his claws 'shink'ing into existence. Jak frowned at the old man; Dax was a person! Well, osstell… Jak felt another spark of pain, accompanied by a pang of guilt. Mar's eyebrows knitted together, and he breathed heavily out of his nose. The old man stared at him for a second before waving his hand in a 'shoo-ing' motion.

"We'll be done in a few, now shoo; adults are talking." Jak snorted, first he called Dax an 'it', and now he was saying he was an 'adult.'

"It's alright- we gotta go; right Jak?" Dax looked at him, a slight smirk on his furry face.

"Yeah." The old man nodded, and Mar looked at him with sadness. Dax scurried up his torso, gripping onto his shoulder. Jak bit back a yelp of pain, choosing to flash a grin in Mar's direction.


End file.
